[Updated 11/16/09 6pm. See below] Microsoft co-founder and renowned technologist Paul Allen has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer, as of early this month, according to an e-mail message sent from Allen’s sister, Jody Allen Patton, to employees of Seattle-based Vulcan and its affiliates this afternoon. The message was sent to Xconomy and other media outlets by a Vulcan spokesperson.

Doctors say Allen has diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, which is a relatively common form of lymphoma, and he has begun chemotherapy, according to the e-mail. The message pointed out that Allen “beat Hodgkin’s a little more than 25 years ago and he is optimistic he can beat this, too.” That form of cancer is different from Allen’s current diagnosis, which is classified as a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is an umbrella term for cancers in which white blood cells of the immune system start growing out of control, according to the National Cancer Institute. The disease is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S. each year, following lung, bladder, and melanoma tumors, according to the American Cancer Society. About 66,000 new cases are expected to be diagnosed this year in the U.S., and about 19,500 people are expected to die from the disease. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, accounting for 30 percent of all newly diagnosed cases, according to an expert review published by the Lymphoma Research Foundation.

Vulcan spokesman David Postman wouldn’t comment on any specific questions about the stage of Allen’s disease, how early it was detected, whether it is an aggressive or slow-growing form of lymphoma, or where he is getting treatment.

Those questions are key to determining what kind of prognosis Allen has. His form of cancer is generally considered an aggressive, fast-growing lymphoma and requires immediate treatment, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s description, authored by Carol Portlock of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, Julie Vose of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE, and Bruce Cheson of Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C. The first sign is usually when the lymph nodes swell in the neck, armpit, or groin—other symptoms include night sweats, unexplained fevers, and weight loss, according to the summary from Portlock and colleagues.

A common treatment for the disease is a regimen of chemotherapy combined with Roche and Biogen’s targeted antibody drug rituximab (Rituxan), which kills excess B-cells of the immune system. The combination treatment can lead to a cure in a large number of patients. “Even when a cure is not possible, treatment can often keep the disease away for many years,” Portlock wrote.

“Paul is feeling OK and remains upbeat,” the Vulcan message stated. “He continues to work and he has no plans to change his role at Vulcan. His health comes first, though, and we’ll be sure that nothing intrudes on that.”

Here is the Vulcan e-mail in its entirety [added 11/16/09 6pm]:

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To employees of Vulcan and affiliates:

I want to let you know that Paul was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

He received the diagnosis early this month and has begun chemotherapy. Doctors say he has diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a relatively common form of lymphoma.

This is tough news for Paul and the family. But for those who know Paul’s story, you know he beat Hodgkin’s a little more than 25 years ago and he is optimistic he can beat this, too.

Paul is feeling OK and remains upbeat. He continues to work and he has no plans to change his role at Vulcan. His health comes first, though, and we’ll be sure that nothing intrudes on that.

We would ask you to respect Paul’s privacy and not discuss this outside of the office.

If you have any questions, please ask your EC member.

Thank you in advance for what I know will be all your good thoughts for Paul.
Jody

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We move fast around here at Xconomy Seattle, so there isn’t much time to look back or celebrate. Today we’re making an exception. It’s been exactly one year since we took a deep breath, pushed the button, and published the first edition of Xconomy Seattle.

There’s truly never been a dull moment since we fired up the Wi-Fi, bought some Ikea furniture, and settled into our scruffy space on Seattle’s First Hill (after first freeing the Qwest phone guy from our elevator shaft). We have published 1,440 stories and briefs about the Northwest’s leading personalities, companies, and trends in the most innovative segments of the business community. Readership across the Xconomy network has soared to some 170,000 unique visitors per month nationwide—about triple where it was a year ago. We have nailed down partnerships to feed our content to a pair of major Northwest media players—Seattletimes.com and Seattlepi.com. And, we’ve organized local events on new vaccines in development and the rise of the cleantech industry, with more to come—including the Xconomy Battle of the Tech Bands on July 30, which will take place at the Washington Technology Industry Association’s annual summer celebration.

So, for those of you who are just discovering us, what is Xconomy about, and why are we so pumped (well, besides the unhealthy quantities of caffeine we consume)? We get up every day looking for stories that matter. Stories about innovation in high tech, biotech, and cleantech that are happening all around us. This provides an amazing lens on the world, and every week we feel the joy of discovering people and projects that are new, interesting, and important drivers for the Seattle region (and beyond)—as well as some things that just never pan out. Much of this stuff is off the radar of other media, so it means we have the good fortune of digging out stories you can’t find anywhere else.

The Web also allows amazing freedom in how we write our stories and engage with readers, in ways that wouldn’t work in a traditional print operation. As Xconomy founder and editor in chief Bob Buderi described when we launched the Seattle site a year ago, “We aren’t a typical blog: we’re more like a cross between a blog, a daily newspaper, and a magazine, running articles that range from 30-odd words to more than 3,000, depending on where the story takes us.”

Xconomy as a company has been around for almost two years, since we first got going in Boston on June 27, 2007. After opening Seattle, we added another site in San Diego last October. Since we are always asking companies to explain their strategies in plain English, I figured it was only fair to let you hear from the horse’s mouth exactly what it is we aim to accomplish:

“We believe that you can best understand today’s high-tech economy by keeping your eye on the places where diverse people, technologies, organizations, expertise, and interests come together,” Bob wrote, on the day we launched in Boston. “Life sciences is made stronger by world-class information technology. Nanotechnology helps drive biotechnology, computing, and energy…The collaboration of—and friction between—academia and industry sparks profound changes in the way novel technologies are commercialized…The interactions of venture capitalists, angel investors, professors, students, lawyers, consultants, accountants, legislators, consumers—all these forces and interests come together in different ways to spur or hinder technological creativity and economic growth.”

Basically, if we do our job well, we believe we can help foster community. Maybe we’ll even help spark …Next Page »

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